For the Best
by Danielle Salvatore
Summary: After a kiss under the stars with Damon, Bonnie comes to a few hard realizations. Written as a birthday present for my friend Michelle. One-shot. Angsty.


For the Best

**A/N: A little short one shot written as a birthday present for my good friend, Michelle. Happy birthday Michelle! 3**

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Bonnie Mccullough pulled the blanket tighter around herself and held back the shiver that threatened to overcome her body, scooting closer to the fire.

She wasn't sure why she was out here so late at night. She had just felt a sense of restlessness being cramped in a small tent with two other people, and the fresh air felt nice.

Slowly, she glanced around at the three different tents. One that was being shared by Stefan and Elena, one that was shared by her, Meredith, and Mat, and the last one, on the far left, being occupied by only Damon.

Not a sound was coming from any of them, and Bonnie smiled a bit at the fact. A few moments alone under the stars sounded…nice.

She was broken out of her thoughts by the sound and feeling of her stomach suddenly rumbling.

_I guess it has been a few hours since I've eaten anything, _she thought, looking down at the small fire she had started. _And I have a fire all nice and ready…._

Quickly making a decision on what to eat, Bonnie turned on the flashlight that had been resting in her hand, and walked briskly over to their storage of food, digging through it in search of the graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate that the gang had all used earlier to make smores.

"What brings you to the fire at this time of night?"

The sudden, silky voice that ghosted closer to her in the darkness caused Bonnie to let out a soft yelp, and jump a few feet into the air.

Once her feet was on the ground again, she lost her bearings and tripped, resulting in what could have been a fleeting trip to the hard ground.

But before her body could hit the ground, strong, firm arms caught her.

"Damon," she gasped immediately, knowing it was him from both his familiar leather jacket and just…his aura. "You scared me."

The vampire slowly helped her regain her balance, before releasing her from his grip, though still keeping close by.

"It's a bit past your bedtime, redbird," he murmured, so close that she could feel his breath hitting her ear.

Though her immediate, typical reaction was shivering at bit at his closeness, she quickly pulled herself together, and wrenched away from him, mild anger hitting her as she registered his words.

"I'm not a child, Damon," she snapped, glaring softly. "I can be out here if I want to."

Her eyes briefly glanced over at the other two tents. No sound could be heard from either of them. Dead silence. No one else was awake besides the two of them.

For some reason, this knowledge made Bonnie nervous.

Damon, however, seemed amused at her retort, and chuckled lowly.

"I only wish to know what brought you outside your tent at such a….untimely hour."

"I…." she broke off, not really sure how to respond. She supposes she could tell him that it wasn't any of his business…which it really wasn't. But that would sound mean spirited. And he asked the question with innocent curiosity…and maybe even a little concern, so she didn't want to do that.

But could she tell him the truth and not sound crazy? Explain to him that she simply felt…so overwhelmed in that tent with Meredith and Mat, even there had been plenty of room. Or that she had felt like she just couldn't get herself to go to sleep at that hour, no matter how tired she truly felt?

Her inner monologue gave her a clear answer.

She attempted to feign a casual shrug. "I got hungry," she answered, glancing down at the abandoned box of graham crackers that she had dropped on the ground when Damon surprised her. Luckily, they hadn't spilled. "I was going to make some smores."

The obvious perplex expression on his face surprised her.

"You know," she said slowly. "The stuff we were eating a few hours ago before everyone went to bed?"

She remembered it distinctively. She, Meredith, Elena, Matt, and Stefan had all gathered around the fire together, laughing, telling stories, and roasting smores while Damon had lingered alone in the background, as usual. She didn't recall him eating a single smore….

Her brief explanation seemed to clear up any confusion he may have had, and he gave a short nod. "I see."

But Bonnie caught his eyes casually drifting over to the fallen box of graham crackers, and the glint in his dark eyes almost looked….curious.

She giggled at little at the thought.

"Have you ever had a smore?" She already knew the answer to the question, but she still wanted to hear him answer it for some unknown reason.

Damon shook his head, his obsidian eyes flashing with even more amusement.

"I don't waste my time with simple human frivolities, little bird. I have far more….important activities to occupy my time with."

Bonnie shook her head in disbelief. "But they're so good." She bent down to pick up the box of graham crackers, before standing back up to regard him shyly.

"Would you like to join me and try some?"

* * *

Moments later, Bonnie found herself in one of the oddest situations yet.

Roasting smores with Damon Salvatore.

She had been surprised at how little the vampire truly knew about the simple, popular, human treat; from down to what a smore was made out of, and how to make one.

"It's like a sandwich," Bonnie explained, showing off her perfectly roasted marshmallow to him before spreading it onto a graham cracker. "And then you put a piece of chocolate on top of it, and another cracker." She demonstrated her words by doing just that, showing her now completed smore to him. "See?"

Damon briefly glanced at the smore before his attention returned to his own marshmallow, scowling at the slow pace of its roasting. "It's much too time consuming."

With that, he impatiently used his stick to heave the marshmallow into the fire.

Bonnie rolled her eyes as the marshmallow caught fire, and watched as Damon pulled it out.

"It would taste a lot better if you wait and let it get golden brown instead of just burning it."

"That takes too much time," Damon replied, blowing the inflamed marshmallow out.

Bonnie sighed, but a small smile graced her lips as she finally took a bite out of her own smore, moaning softly at the wonderful taste of it.

Subconsciously, she was a little embarrassed that she was eating it so quickly and indelicately, but she couldn't help herself.

After she had devoured it, she slowly came to realization that Damon was staring at her.

"What?" She asked, blushing in self consciousness.

He smirked. "You have smeared marshmallow on your face."

Her cheeks flushed an even darker shade of scarlet, her mortification at herself spreading by the second…

But her sense of panic was short lived, and was replaced with a feeling of shock when Damon suddenly scooted closer to her, and his mouth moved to the left side of her jaw, where the smeared marshmallow was located.

Bonnie's breath hitched as she felt Damon's cool tongue lightly trace her jaw, before he pulled away, though still so insanely close that her nervousness didn't diminish in the slightest. "There, all taken care of."

She shivered at the feel of his soft words blowing into her face. "Damon…."

And then suddenly, they were kissing. Bonnie wasn't sure how it started, or who had made the first move, but it had happened.

Fire seemed to ignite through her at the feel of Damon's cool lips pressing passionately against hers…with more heat than any of their past kisses her had. She let out a quiet, almost inaudible moan as he nibbled at her bottom lip, and though she couldn't see it, she could just sense Damon attempting to smirk against her lips.

Her mouth slowly opened under his at his probing, deepening the kiss, and Bonnie felt like she was blissfully drowning, becoming consumed with thoughts and feelings that had to do with Damon, and only Damon. She never wanted it to end.

But eventually, it had to. Because due to being home, there was a thing called oxygen that she still unfortunately needed.

Even after their lips had parted, Damon's lips moved on to the side of her neck, goosebumps spreading across every inch of her as he began to kiss, lick, and even nibble lightly at the left side of it.

"Stay in my tent with me for the rest of the night," he murmured against her neck once he was finished, one of his hands absentmindedly stroking one of her red curls.

The thought was tempting. Oh it was so tempting…and Bonnie's first instinct wanted to kiss him again and murmur an enthusiastic yes against his lips, but another thought and insecurity didn't allow her to do that.

Elena. One of her best friends. And the person she was positive that Damon was still in love with.

Bonnie was well aware of the strange, love square-type-thing going on between her, Damon, Elena, and Stefan. It constantly made Meredith wary, Matt uncomfortable, and at times, made the tension between the four of them so thick that one could cut it with a knife.

She and Elena had even had a discussion about it once before. And the blonde had been absolutely positive about her words when she had told Bonnie that Damon had feelings for her.

But Bonnie wouldn't allow herself to be naïve. She knew full well that while there was a possibility that Elena was right, and that Damon did have feelings for her, that didn't change the fact that he also still had strong feelings for Elena.

Just like Elena, Damon was stuck in between two people; unsure of which one he had stronger feelings for.

But unlike Damon and Stefan, Bonnie would not let herself endure the pain of being one of the outside points of a love triangle, because she didn't think she could handle it. She couldn't allow Damon to juggle between them, because eventually, it would break her.

No. She wouldn't let it go on, because as much as it was going to hurt, she was going to personally remove herself from it before it can continue.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Damon," she said sadly though truthful, forcing herself away from him and standing up from her sitting position on the log.

Obvious disbelief and confusion flashed through those midnight orbs that she had grown so accustomed to, as he got to his feet as well.

"And why not?"

"Damon…" She began, but when her voice began to quiver, she stopped midsentence in order to attempt to calm her nerves before continuing. "Do you still love Elena?"

She already knew the answer. But there was a small part, deep down inside of her that held out hope that maybe his answer would end up surprising her.

But that hope was swiftly deflated when her question was only meant with dead silence. That was answer enough for her.

"That's what I thought," she said morosely, turning away from him to head back to her tent.

She heard him sigh behind her. "Redbird…."

She turned to glance at him one last time. "This…can't ever happen again." She knew he wasn't dumb. He knew she was talking about the kiss. "I won't let you do it again."

And then in a rushed motion, she left to go back inside her tent. She could feel the burning of tears threatening to spill from her eyes, and she didn't want to cry in front of him.

They could never be alone like that again. That she was sure of. As much as she loved him, and as much as it would hurt, she knew it would ultimately be better this way.

No matter how long it would take, she had to move on.

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**A/N: Writing this hurt me more than it hurt you guys reading it, believe me XD**

**But Michelle isn't into the fairy tale, mushy stuff that most of us like, so I decided to write her a good angsty one for her birthday. I hope you liked it Michelle! **

**I know that this was very sad for my first fic to post after a short hiatus, but I am working on a very fluffy chapter of Arranging Love, which will hopefully be posted sometime in the next few days, and I am also working on a happier one shot which will hopefully be posted soon as well.**

**I love you guys! Sorry that you haven't heard from me in a little while. **


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